So Anna is just amazing us everyday now. There is something new that she learns every single day. Half of it, I have no idea where it came from or how she knows it! Jeremy told her to "lie down and close your eyes Anna" and she laid down and put her hands over her eyes! Last week Jer asked her "what's a cat say" and she says "mooooow" so cute!
Of course that also means the time has come for us to be extra careful about everything we say and do, and that isn't going to let up for a loooong time. The luxury of having a baby who doesn't know what is going on is over. She sees everything and she hears everything. And all those things that you think there is no way she would understand? Well, she does somehow. Even if she doesn't, she will do whatever she can to be like mommy and daddy.
For anyone keeping score (OK, for my own personal record keeping), Anna knows the folowing words (at 16 1/2 months):
Mama
Dada
"moooo" (for cow)
Eye
Hat
Hot
Hi
Bye
Meow (cat)
Quack Quack (duck)
No
Fishy
Thank You
This
Shoe
I'll have to come back and edit when I think of more . Beyond that, she knows a ton of words, she can point to any body part that you ask of her as well as tons of things around the house. She is such a smarty pants. It is so amazing to see her grow and change. I know a lot of this knowledge is coming from her grandmothers which is great. And actually Jeremy works with her a lot always pointing out things and having her repeat it. As soon as she gets some more consonant sounds down, it will be full steam ahead and I know right around the corner she will be talking non-stop!
There is still a lot of grunting and pointing going on, and she has full conversations in her own language. Jeremy calls is Annaese Here is a little example!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Back in the swing of things
Well, where to begin? Not even sure where I left off. There are several reasons I have seemingly abandoned this blog over the past 6 months. The biggest is time of course, with a toddler (yes, she is a toddler now!) around, there is never much extra time.
The other is that I really have been avoiding publicly addressing several of the outstanding issues I have brought up in the past on this site, for a variety of reasons. However, this is my blog, my space to do what I want with and I really don't want to hide facts in case the wrong person happens to see this. If they do, they will know the truth and is that really so bad??? Of course, I am still a smart girl :) I will never reveal the whole truth until I know it is OK for everyone to see.
So, let's start with the easy ones! SLEEP, well, Anna is finally sleeping through the night on a regular basis! hooray! This started around her first birthday I would say, maybe a little after. I think that a lot of her issues really did stem from us, as I said before, but I wouldn't change anything we did. I just can't be mad about us loving her too much, you know? If she cries, she wants to be held by the only people she knows and trusts, how can you deny that?
The truth is, we did try the cry-it-out method and it just seemed too cruel. I actually was OK with it, I didn't break down and cry listening to her scream out or anything, but it just didn't work. At the end of the 2 weeks, when she was supposed to be a great sleeper, she wasn't.
Around this same time I happened across the Twitter profile of the parents of a little girl named Layla Grace Marsh. You may have heard of her, I know her parents profile on Twitter and Facebook had a significant following. Little Layla was 2 years old and in the final stages of succumbing to cancer when I caught up with her story. It still brings tears to my eyes just thinking about that time period, I would sit at my computer and just cry and cry reading their daily updates on her condition. Her parents were so honest and forthcoming about everything they were going through that it made childhood cancer real to me for the first time. Hell, it made any cancer real to me - I've been a huge activist for Breast Cancer awareness for a long time and nothing has ever affected me like Layla Grace did.
If you are interested, I strongly suggest reading that family's story on their site. It is extremely well written and easy to relate to. Unfortunately little Layla has passed on now and I can go back to not thinking about nasty things like babies dying for no good reason, but during that time, I welcomed any chance to cuddle and cradle my healthy little blessing - no matter what time of night, no matter how many times a night. No lack of sleep was going to let me forget how blessed we are that Anna's waking up every few hours is really the only problem we have had. at all. ever.
But eventually we did bring it up with her doctor, at her 1-year check up and she suggested that we don't cuddle her to sleep anymore, when it is bed time, she gets put in bed, that's it. We tried it, skeptical, thinking that she would just pop right back up and start wailing if we did that.....but she didn't. She was tired and she just rolled onto her side and went to sleep! She still wakes up maybe once or twice a night when she loses her binky (that is a whole other battle). And usually we can just pop it back in and everyone goes right back to sleep.
So things are good on the sleep front. As for feeding, well, I made it to 9 months breastfeeding and I just had to give in. I wasn't able to pump enough milk to make it worth the effort, I was mixing more than half of her bottles with formula, so we did 3 months of formula, not that big of a deal (except now it has all been recalled....too bad it was already consumed!!!). And we are onto cow's milk. We are giving Anna Organic milk...at least until she can drink low-fat milk and we are all on the same gallon, but at least for now, while I am buying her separate milk anyway, I am giving her a good hormone free start.
And finally, the work situation. Well, I still have to choose those words carefully....maybe more than ever. And that time factor is kicking in so I will leave that until the next round :) Hopefully less than 6 months from now!
The other is that I really have been avoiding publicly addressing several of the outstanding issues I have brought up in the past on this site, for a variety of reasons. However, this is my blog, my space to do what I want with and I really don't want to hide facts in case the wrong person happens to see this. If they do, they will know the truth and is that really so bad??? Of course, I am still a smart girl :) I will never reveal the whole truth until I know it is OK for everyone to see.
So, let's start with the easy ones! SLEEP, well, Anna is finally sleeping through the night on a regular basis! hooray! This started around her first birthday I would say, maybe a little after. I think that a lot of her issues really did stem from us, as I said before, but I wouldn't change anything we did. I just can't be mad about us loving her too much, you know? If she cries, she wants to be held by the only people she knows and trusts, how can you deny that?
The truth is, we did try the cry-it-out method and it just seemed too cruel. I actually was OK with it, I didn't break down and cry listening to her scream out or anything, but it just didn't work. At the end of the 2 weeks, when she was supposed to be a great sleeper, she wasn't.
Around this same time I happened across the Twitter profile of the parents of a little girl named Layla Grace Marsh. You may have heard of her, I know her parents profile on Twitter and Facebook had a significant following. Little Layla was 2 years old and in the final stages of succumbing to cancer when I caught up with her story. It still brings tears to my eyes just thinking about that time period, I would sit at my computer and just cry and cry reading their daily updates on her condition. Her parents were so honest and forthcoming about everything they were going through that it made childhood cancer real to me for the first time. Hell, it made any cancer real to me - I've been a huge activist for Breast Cancer awareness for a long time and nothing has ever affected me like Layla Grace did.
If you are interested, I strongly suggest reading that family's story on their site. It is extremely well written and easy to relate to. Unfortunately little Layla has passed on now and I can go back to not thinking about nasty things like babies dying for no good reason, but during that time, I welcomed any chance to cuddle and cradle my healthy little blessing - no matter what time of night, no matter how many times a night. No lack of sleep was going to let me forget how blessed we are that Anna's waking up every few hours is really the only problem we have had. at all. ever.
But eventually we did bring it up with her doctor, at her 1-year check up and she suggested that we don't cuddle her to sleep anymore, when it is bed time, she gets put in bed, that's it. We tried it, skeptical, thinking that she would just pop right back up and start wailing if we did that.....but she didn't. She was tired and she just rolled onto her side and went to sleep! She still wakes up maybe once or twice a night when she loses her binky (that is a whole other battle). And usually we can just pop it back in and everyone goes right back to sleep.
So things are good on the sleep front. As for feeding, well, I made it to 9 months breastfeeding and I just had to give in. I wasn't able to pump enough milk to make it worth the effort, I was mixing more than half of her bottles with formula, so we did 3 months of formula, not that big of a deal (except now it has all been recalled....too bad it was already consumed!!!). And we are onto cow's milk. We are giving Anna Organic milk...at least until she can drink low-fat milk and we are all on the same gallon, but at least for now, while I am buying her separate milk anyway, I am giving her a good hormone free start.
And finally, the work situation. Well, I still have to choose those words carefully....maybe more than ever. And that time factor is kicking in so I will leave that until the next round :) Hopefully less than 6 months from now!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Weighing my options . . .
So my special arrangement at work is coming to an end and it is time for us to make a major decision.
You see, it all started several years ago when Jeremy got his job with GE Capital. He told me during the interview process that him getting that job meant I would be able to be a stay at home mom when the time came. Ever since then that was my plan . . . that is until Jeremy lost that job with GE Capital. He got laid off after I was pregnant and I quickly realized my dream of being a SAHM wasn't going to be a reality. But maybe HE could be a stay at home DAD?! Well that was a fine option if it came to that, but Jeremy really wanted to be back out in the corporate life and honestly there is no way we could survive on my salary alone.
So Jeremy did get another job but the whole climate had changed, across the country. No one's job was safe anymore. Was it really worth the risk for me to leave a job that I had put 7 years into and felt very secure at? Not really, but was it more important to spend that time with our baby? maybe.
Jeremy convinced me to give it a shot and I decided I would at least work through the end of the year. I talked with my boss as well as our parents and we ended up working out a great schedule. I would work 3 10 hour days in the office and 2 5-hour days from home. The days I am in the office Anna would be with her grandparents. Jeremy's mom would come down one day a week and my mom would watch her the other 2 and then I would have 4 full days with her every week.
This ended up being a perfect arrangement. I never once felt guilty about leaving Anna to go to work because I knew that I was leaving her in the best hands possible. I also never spent much time dreaming about her at home while I was working because I knew that it was only a day or two and I would be back with her for at least 24 hours straight. So I was able to focus on work when I was at work and I was actually quite surprised at how much I actually liked being back.
The days at home were hard, I am glad my supervisors saw that it would be (they are mom's too) and set the expectations lower. At the beginning Anna would nap and I would be able to get everything done that I needed to. As Anna got older it did get a little bit harder, but I was able to figure out a way to accomplish everything that I needed to.
I got compliments from co-workers on how accessible I was, I never felt guilty about working from home because I knew that I had put in my time and that I had proven my ability to work independently and manage myself efficiently. I knew this, my boss knew this, and my co-workers knew this. Perhaps the strongest point - my clients never knew anything had changed. perfect. Our arrangement was through the end of the year.
Around Thanksgiving we discussed me staying home again and Jeremy was a little uneasy - there were more lay offs happening at his new job and he was concerned that the whole 'last in, first out' philosophy might be applied . I decided that I would take advantage of my 3 weeks of vacation and then work on extending my arrangement with my boss for the new year.
I tried to get the work from home days extended through the end of March - she would be 9 months then and my mother-in-law would be back from Florida and could take a day again (they left after Christmas and my mom was doing 3 days a week in January), then take it down to 1 day from home a week until she was 1 and then I would feel much more comfortable considering day care a few days a week if need be. Well, that didn't quite fly. I was able to get the 2-days from home schedule extended until the end of February, but that was it. Back in the office 5 days a week like everyone else after that. Why? From what I gather because my co-workers might begin to find it unfair and use it as a precedent to make their own arrangements when they have a special situation arise.
Now - remember I have only ever worked at this company, it is my entire career, I am a very loyal employee, I love my job and my clients and I have dedicated a significant portion of my life to their business.....but there are others in the office who could say the same eventually. Well, also I live 15 minutes from the office and can be in at the drop of a hat (which I did...several times) ... only one other person can say that. I highly doubt that anyone would ever really be in the exact same situation where they could use my schedule as leverage to create their own, but if they are - more power to them! I think they should be able to work out a flexible arrangement that satisfy their work and home needs. Technology has advanced so much, there is almost nothing that I can't do from home that I would do at the office. Plus, no one ever said the arrangement had to end because of something that I did (or didn't do), it really had nothing to do with me which I found quite unfair.
That said, getting enough actual work done on the days at home is getting increasingly difficult and I really don't think that I could continue much longer as is and feel good about the quality of work I am producing, so I do understand that it has to end sometime. I just had to try my hardest to do what is right for Anna - nothing is more important than that.
So now we are at a huge decision point. . . a few weeks ago, Jeremy came home from work all hyped up and started going on about how we would probably be able to make it work if I wanted to stay home with Anna. He feels better about his job now and it is going to be a long time until any one will feel 100% secure with the current economic environment so it is going to have to be a leap of faith anytime we would do it, if we do it. Can we do it? Should we do it? How do you answer those questions?
Well, "Can we do it?" is the easier of the 2 by far. There are actually 2 different Can?s. Can we do it financially and Can I do it mentally and emotionally. Being a stay at home mom is a tough job with no pay, no breaks, no vacation, no health care, no sick days, no personal days . . . could I turn my life 360 and not think about business anymore? Not use that college education I spent 4 (ok, 5) years gaining? How do you know if you are cut out for it? Some people aren't - there is plenty of evidence of that on the internet. What if I hate it and I want to go back to work but it is too late to get back in at my job? Am I willing to give up my place in the corporate ladder that I had been securing for nearly 8 years? I am just 2 years away from another week of vacation. wait, if I stay at home, really, it is all vacation . . . so that doesn't matter. If I hate it, I can always job hunt and take my time getting back into things. It could even be good for me, in my career you really have to job hop to move up the pay scale at a decent speed. . . but how would I ever hate it?
Really when I think about it, if I need a break or a personal day I have 2 grandmas ready and willing at a seconds notice to take over for the day. And what about that? I love the fact that Anna gets to spend such quality time with her grandparents and they with her. I think my mother-in-law may actually be disappointed if I stayed home and she didn't have a definite reason to come visit at least once a week. I would love to be able to keep that schedule up, I think it is so valuable to both sides.
So, can we do it financially? Well, there are several helpful calculators on the internet and they all told us what we already knew, yes, of course we can do it. We are very blessed and Jeremy does well. We currently live very comfortably so there would be some cuts that would have to be made, but honestly my salary does not contribute much to our household expenses. Really the only major issues would be my car payment, which is done in August, if not sooner, and my health insurance - I would have to be put on Jeremy's plan and that cost would increase. But we can do it.
So ... should we do it? Well, that is the million dollar question. I really don't know. We are currently compiling all of our options in order to make an educated decision (see, that college is paying off already!). There are quite a few choices. We went to visit a day care that came highly recommended and we really liked it. I think Anna would love it too and she would benefit greatly from the social interaction.
As I see it, here are the options:
The one thing I do know - Anna is the most important thing in the world and she will never be this age again. I don't want to miss a thing and I will not compromise on seeing to it that she is raised the way we want her to be. She is worth any sacrifice that needs to be made - we can always make more money, but we can never get these years back. Hope to have this resolved soon!!
You see, it all started several years ago when Jeremy got his job with GE Capital. He told me during the interview process that him getting that job meant I would be able to be a stay at home mom when the time came. Ever since then that was my plan . . . that is until Jeremy lost that job with GE Capital. He got laid off after I was pregnant and I quickly realized my dream of being a SAHM wasn't going to be a reality. But maybe HE could be a stay at home DAD?! Well that was a fine option if it came to that, but Jeremy really wanted to be back out in the corporate life and honestly there is no way we could survive on my salary alone.
So Jeremy did get another job but the whole climate had changed, across the country. No one's job was safe anymore. Was it really worth the risk for me to leave a job that I had put 7 years into and felt very secure at? Not really, but was it more important to spend that time with our baby? maybe.
Jeremy convinced me to give it a shot and I decided I would at least work through the end of the year. I talked with my boss as well as our parents and we ended up working out a great schedule. I would work 3 10 hour days in the office and 2 5-hour days from home. The days I am in the office Anna would be with her grandparents. Jeremy's mom would come down one day a week and my mom would watch her the other 2 and then I would have 4 full days with her every week.
This ended up being a perfect arrangement. I never once felt guilty about leaving Anna to go to work because I knew that I was leaving her in the best hands possible. I also never spent much time dreaming about her at home while I was working because I knew that it was only a day or two and I would be back with her for at least 24 hours straight. So I was able to focus on work when I was at work and I was actually quite surprised at how much I actually liked being back.
The days at home were hard, I am glad my supervisors saw that it would be (they are mom's too) and set the expectations lower. At the beginning Anna would nap and I would be able to get everything done that I needed to. As Anna got older it did get a little bit harder, but I was able to figure out a way to accomplish everything that I needed to.
I got compliments from co-workers on how accessible I was, I never felt guilty about working from home because I knew that I had put in my time and that I had proven my ability to work independently and manage myself efficiently. I knew this, my boss knew this, and my co-workers knew this. Perhaps the strongest point - my clients never knew anything had changed. perfect. Our arrangement was through the end of the year.
Around Thanksgiving we discussed me staying home again and Jeremy was a little uneasy - there were more lay offs happening at his new job and he was concerned that the whole 'last in, first out' philosophy might be applied . I decided that I would take advantage of my 3 weeks of vacation and then work on extending my arrangement with my boss for the new year.
I tried to get the work from home days extended through the end of March - she would be 9 months then and my mother-in-law would be back from Florida and could take a day again (they left after Christmas and my mom was doing 3 days a week in January), then take it down to 1 day from home a week until she was 1 and then I would feel much more comfortable considering day care a few days a week if need be. Well, that didn't quite fly. I was able to get the 2-days from home schedule extended until the end of February, but that was it. Back in the office 5 days a week like everyone else after that. Why? From what I gather because my co-workers might begin to find it unfair and use it as a precedent to make their own arrangements when they have a special situation arise.
Now - remember I have only ever worked at this company, it is my entire career, I am a very loyal employee, I love my job and my clients and I have dedicated a significant portion of my life to their business.....but there are others in the office who could say the same eventually. Well, also I live 15 minutes from the office and can be in at the drop of a hat (which I did...several times) ... only one other person can say that. I highly doubt that anyone would ever really be in the exact same situation where they could use my schedule as leverage to create their own, but if they are - more power to them! I think they should be able to work out a flexible arrangement that satisfy their work and home needs. Technology has advanced so much, there is almost nothing that I can't do from home that I would do at the office. Plus, no one ever said the arrangement had to end because of something that I did (or didn't do), it really had nothing to do with me which I found quite unfair.
That said, getting enough actual work done on the days at home is getting increasingly difficult and I really don't think that I could continue much longer as is and feel good about the quality of work I am producing, so I do understand that it has to end sometime. I just had to try my hardest to do what is right for Anna - nothing is more important than that.
So now we are at a huge decision point. . . a few weeks ago, Jeremy came home from work all hyped up and started going on about how we would probably be able to make it work if I wanted to stay home with Anna. He feels better about his job now and it is going to be a long time until any one will feel 100% secure with the current economic environment so it is going to have to be a leap of faith anytime we would do it, if we do it. Can we do it? Should we do it? How do you answer those questions?
Well, "Can we do it?" is the easier of the 2 by far. There are actually 2 different Can?s. Can we do it financially and Can I do it mentally and emotionally. Being a stay at home mom is a tough job with no pay, no breaks, no vacation, no health care, no sick days, no personal days . . . could I turn my life 360 and not think about business anymore? Not use that college education I spent 4 (ok, 5) years gaining? How do you know if you are cut out for it? Some people aren't - there is plenty of evidence of that on the internet. What if I hate it and I want to go back to work but it is too late to get back in at my job? Am I willing to give up my place in the corporate ladder that I had been securing for nearly 8 years? I am just 2 years away from another week of vacation. wait, if I stay at home, really, it is all vacation . . . so that doesn't matter. If I hate it, I can always job hunt and take my time getting back into things. It could even be good for me, in my career you really have to job hop to move up the pay scale at a decent speed. . . but how would I ever hate it?
Really when I think about it, if I need a break or a personal day I have 2 grandmas ready and willing at a seconds notice to take over for the day. And what about that? I love the fact that Anna gets to spend such quality time with her grandparents and they with her. I think my mother-in-law may actually be disappointed if I stayed home and she didn't have a definite reason to come visit at least once a week. I would love to be able to keep that schedule up, I think it is so valuable to both sides.
So, can we do it financially? Well, there are several helpful calculators on the internet and they all told us what we already knew, yes, of course we can do it. We are very blessed and Jeremy does well. We currently live very comfortably so there would be some cuts that would have to be made, but honestly my salary does not contribute much to our household expenses. Really the only major issues would be my car payment, which is done in August, if not sooner, and my health insurance - I would have to be put on Jeremy's plan and that cost would increase. But we can do it.
So ... should we do it? Well, that is the million dollar question. I really don't know. We are currently compiling all of our options in order to make an educated decision (see, that college is paying off already!). There are quite a few choices. We went to visit a day care that came highly recommended and we really liked it. I think Anna would love it too and she would benefit greatly from the social interaction.
As I see it, here are the options:
- I go back to work full time and Anna stays with her grandma's 3 days a week and in day care 2 days a week. Pros: more money for savings, luxuries; continuing with my career; lots of activity for Anna Cons: would really only see her from 6p - 8p 5 days a week. wait, 2-hours a day? 2 hours??? no way.
- I go back to work full time but arrange with my boss to work an alternate schedule allowing me to leave early on a daily basis. Say 8a - 4p. Pros: same as above. Cons: inconsistent schedule, higher chance of illness, hard to actually get out of the office early - some days will be impossible; even with an extra hour or two, time spent during the week will not be quality and time on weekends will be spent catching up from the weeknights.
- I stay home full time and just be Anna's Mom. Pros: I get to see Anna grow and learn everyday; I get to spend quality time with her and make sure she is developing in the best way possible; Cons: less money for luxury items and savings; less adult interaction and use of my brain; career set back
- I work part time and stay home the rest of the time. Pros: I get to spend more than 50% of every week with Anna; I also get to have some adult interaction and use my brain; we have some extra income so all the pressure isn't on Jer alone. Cons: it will be a pay cut for me; I am not sure I can leave it all at the office on days I would not be working; it would put a pause on my moving through the ranks.
- I stay home full time and find a job I can do from home. Pros: home all the time with Anna, Cons: well that is a good word for it, everything related to this on the internet seems very shady - not sure there is a realistic legitimate job to do from home that would pay enough to be worth it.
The one thing I do know - Anna is the most important thing in the world and she will never be this age again. I don't want to miss a thing and I will not compromise on seeing to it that she is raised the way we want her to be. She is worth any sacrifice that needs to be made - we can always make more money, but we can never get these years back. Hope to have this resolved soon!!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
7 Months, week 3 - Struggling to Produce
I have always known I wanted to breastfeed, it was never ever a question. Going through the prep classes at the hospital only reaffirmed that choice. The classes as well as the books and really anything else that you come across when preparing for a baby clearly show that breast milk is the best food for babies. God made it that way.
In fact, I even had thoughts of never touching formula. Sure, the hospital piles on the samples, but we (as was suggested by one of our baby prep course instructors) hid it away in the basement, in a place that would not make it top of mind and easy to resort to in the beginning if things got rough.
And things did get rough....for awhile I was having such excruciating pain when she latched on - I thought there was no way I would be able to continue, surely I would have to throw in the towel. But that made me mad and I was determined to make it work - this was how it was supposed to be! So I made an appointment with the Lactation Consultant at Anna's pediatricians office and during our appointment she watched how I was feeding Anna and gave me one tiny suggestion (I think it was specific to the way I was doing things, therefore hard to explain and likely not relevant - otherwise I would share) and things immediately felt better.
So we were on a roll. Anna was on a healthy eating schedule, we never had problems again. She always has been a great eater. After 5 weeks I started to pump some milk so that daddy (and grandparents!) could also feed Anna, she did great with that too - never a fuss. She took whatever bottle and whatever nipple we gave her right away.
I started pumping to build up my milk supply in the freezer for when I returned to work. I figured I could pump enough that Anna could continue on breast milk alone even while I was away. My mother told me several times that we should give Anna some formula, just so she tastes it and is OK with it, just in case we ever need it. Of course I knew she was wrong, why would Anna ever need anything other than me?
Well, it turns out, as usual, she was right. And I eventually did try a little formula with Anna to see if she would be OK with it. As you might guess, she was. After that it has been increasing easy to resort to formula. I was still pumping and Anna was having mixed bottle when I was at work - 4 ounces formula + 2 ounces breast milk.
That worked fine for awhile, but fast forward to December 2009 and something changed. I still don't know what, but my milk supply just started to diminish. I was pumping and only getting 3 ounces total (where I used to get 5 - 6 on average) and then it was down to 2 ounces and it really started to become a pain to go through that whole process just to get a measly 4 ounces a day. That was hardly enough to make a difference to Anna's health.
So I asked Anna's doctor during a check up and she suggested Mother's Milk herbal tea. She said to drink it everyday for 2 weeks and that is would help. Well I actually had some tea that was supposed to help with lactation - it wasn't called Mother's Milk, but it was probably the same thing, right? Right. Well I drank that everyday for the 2 weeks I was home on Christmas vacation. During this time I also nursed almost exclusively, which is also supposed to help increase your supply. Now don't get me wrong, Anna was far from starving or anything - when I fed her, she would still eat for the same time period as she always had and then stop herself, and she was never crying or obviously still hungry when she finished, so I figured things must be getting better - well it turns out they were not because when I got back to work and back to pumping, I just wasn't getting anything. So I though maybe there is something to the fact that the doctor suggested that product by name . . .
I went to several stores trying to find the Mother's Milk and 2 were sold out. I found it at GNC and bought the only 2 boxes they had in stock. After a few days of drinking the Mother's Milk tea I thought we were back in business, I was starting to get more when I pumped and I was excited, I had saved myself and I had saved Anna from a formula only diet! Just then, GNC sent me an email (I had given my address at the tea purchase) - 20% off everything and free shipping - today only! I thought "great! I'll stock up now!" and I ordered 10 boxes of Mother's Milk tea.
Well, I have 7 boxes of the tea in my pantry, 2 at the office and 2 that I have gone through and my supply is back dwindled down again. It seems very random and inconsistent which is very frustrating to me because I can't control it. I am at the point where I don't know what to do, I had every intention of breastfeeding Anna until she was 1 and then giving her frozen breast milk for 3 months after that! But now I just don't know if I can make it work.
I really, really feel like I have failed and I am trying everything I can to fix it. I still drink the tea 4 to 5 times a day and I still breastfeed Anna at least twice a day, but I know she can't be getting much because when I pump I don't get much and the doctor said Anna can get about 10% more out of me than the pump does, but 10% of 1 ounce doesn't come close to what she needs at a feeding. She still acts fine, I know she would cry after eating if she was still hungry - so it must be enough to satisfy her little tummy for a short time anyway. And we are giving her solid foods now so she probably does not even realize that she should be getting more, but I do and that is the problem. Not to mention that I really feel like I can't quit now that I have $40 of tea in stock!
So I am not sure what is going to happen or what I am going to do about the situation. I think as of now, I will continue to do everything I can to build my supply back up until it happens or she hits 9 months - whichever comes first. I will hate giving up if that is what the end result is, but it also is pointless to struggle for such a little result.
In fact, I even had thoughts of never touching formula. Sure, the hospital piles on the samples, but we (as was suggested by one of our baby prep course instructors) hid it away in the basement, in a place that would not make it top of mind and easy to resort to in the beginning if things got rough.
And things did get rough....for awhile I was having such excruciating pain when she latched on - I thought there was no way I would be able to continue, surely I would have to throw in the towel. But that made me mad and I was determined to make it work - this was how it was supposed to be! So I made an appointment with the Lactation Consultant at Anna's pediatricians office and during our appointment she watched how I was feeding Anna and gave me one tiny suggestion (I think it was specific to the way I was doing things, therefore hard to explain and likely not relevant - otherwise I would share) and things immediately felt better.
So we were on a roll. Anna was on a healthy eating schedule, we never had problems again. She always has been a great eater. After 5 weeks I started to pump some milk so that daddy (and grandparents!) could also feed Anna, she did great with that too - never a fuss. She took whatever bottle and whatever nipple we gave her right away.
I started pumping to build up my milk supply in the freezer for when I returned to work. I figured I could pump enough that Anna could continue on breast milk alone even while I was away. My mother told me several times that we should give Anna some formula, just so she tastes it and is OK with it, just in case we ever need it. Of course I knew she was wrong, why would Anna ever need anything other than me?
Well, it turns out, as usual, she was right. And I eventually did try a little formula with Anna to see if she would be OK with it. As you might guess, she was. After that it has been increasing easy to resort to formula. I was still pumping and Anna was having mixed bottle when I was at work - 4 ounces formula + 2 ounces breast milk.
That worked fine for awhile, but fast forward to December 2009 and something changed. I still don't know what, but my milk supply just started to diminish. I was pumping and only getting 3 ounces total (where I used to get 5 - 6 on average) and then it was down to 2 ounces and it really started to become a pain to go through that whole process just to get a measly 4 ounces a day. That was hardly enough to make a difference to Anna's health.
So I asked Anna's doctor during a check up and she suggested Mother's Milk herbal tea. She said to drink it everyday for 2 weeks and that is would help. Well I actually had some tea that was supposed to help with lactation - it wasn't called Mother's Milk, but it was probably the same thing, right? Right. Well I drank that everyday for the 2 weeks I was home on Christmas vacation. During this time I also nursed almost exclusively, which is also supposed to help increase your supply. Now don't get me wrong, Anna was far from starving or anything - when I fed her, she would still eat for the same time period as she always had and then stop herself, and she was never crying or obviously still hungry when she finished, so I figured things must be getting better - well it turns out they were not because when I got back to work and back to pumping, I just wasn't getting anything. So I though maybe there is something to the fact that the doctor suggested that product by name . . .
I went to several stores trying to find the Mother's Milk and 2 were sold out. I found it at GNC and bought the only 2 boxes they had in stock. After a few days of drinking the Mother's Milk tea I thought we were back in business, I was starting to get more when I pumped and I was excited, I had saved myself and I had saved Anna from a formula only diet! Just then, GNC sent me an email (I had given my address at the tea purchase) - 20% off everything and free shipping - today only! I thought "great! I'll stock up now!" and I ordered 10 boxes of Mother's Milk tea.
Well, I have 7 boxes of the tea in my pantry, 2 at the office and 2 that I have gone through and my supply is back dwindled down again. It seems very random and inconsistent which is very frustrating to me because I can't control it. I am at the point where I don't know what to do, I had every intention of breastfeeding Anna until she was 1 and then giving her frozen breast milk for 3 months after that! But now I just don't know if I can make it work.
I really, really feel like I have failed and I am trying everything I can to fix it. I still drink the tea 4 to 5 times a day and I still breastfeed Anna at least twice a day, but I know she can't be getting much because when I pump I don't get much and the doctor said Anna can get about 10% more out of me than the pump does, but 10% of 1 ounce doesn't come close to what she needs at a feeding. She still acts fine, I know she would cry after eating if she was still hungry - so it must be enough to satisfy her little tummy for a short time anyway. And we are giving her solid foods now so she probably does not even realize that she should be getting more, but I do and that is the problem. Not to mention that I really feel like I can't quit now that I have $40 of tea in stock!
So I am not sure what is going to happen or what I am going to do about the situation. I think as of now, I will continue to do everything I can to build my supply back up until it happens or she hits 9 months - whichever comes first. I will hate giving up if that is what the end result is, but it also is pointless to struggle for such a little result.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
First Foods
Anna started solid foods in December and now she has moved on to finger foods!
The very first thing she had other than breast milk and formula was Rice Cereal. It took her a few trys to figure out how to keep it in her mouth and swallow it but she got the hang of it pretty quickly. We still try to have cereal everyday. Anna's doctor said that cereal helps her feel full longer so it is a good thing to eat later in the day to help her sleep all night. We try to give it to her a few times a day, but it is hard to fit it all in.
Her first real food was peas, they took a few bites of uncertainty but then she got used to them. It is recommended to start with vegetables because babies can develop a preference for the sweetness of fruits and then refuse to try new vegetables so we did all vegetables for awhile.
The very first thing she had other than breast milk and formula was Rice Cereal. It took her a few trys to figure out how to keep it in her mouth and swallow it but she got the hang of it pretty quickly. We still try to have cereal everyday. Anna's doctor said that cereal helps her feel full longer so it is a good thing to eat later in the day to help her sleep all night. We try to give it to her a few times a day, but it is hard to fit it all in.
Her first real food was peas, they took a few bites of uncertainty but then she got used to them. It is recommended to start with vegetables because babies can develop a preference for the sweetness of fruits and then refuse to try new vegetables so we did all vegetables for awhile.
Next were Carrots and then Sweet Potatoes. We also wait 3 days in between introducing a new food just in case she has a bad reaction or allergy, then we will know right away what the source of the problem is. However I am starting to relax on this a little because it is really hard to keep up with once you get into the combination foods in Stage 2.
Since the new year we have been incorporating Stage 2 foods as well, this is more of the meals in a jar, combination foods. Babies can start having Stage 2 when they can sit by themselves. We waited a little longer just because we were trying to get her introduced to a bunch of basic foods first, that makes it easier to give her combos. She is starting to develop preferences!
Just this week we decided to give finger foods a shot. I put a few Cheerios on her tray one night during dinner. She is still developing her pincher grasp (putting the thumb and index finger together to pick something up) so she struggles getting them to her mouth but she seems to realize that is what she should do with them. I put a few in her mouth for her and, like anything else, I think it is going to take a few tries to get the hang of it. She had a hard time keeping them in her mouth at first but it is already getting better.
We had some cut up pears last night and she liked those so we are on our way to table food in a hurry!!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
7 Months, Week 1 - no .. sleep .. for Anna
I am going to have to just back date my gear reviews so they all stay together, but I would like to start blogging as well. I will eventually back date some thoughts on the first 7 months, but this will be the first current post.
Right now weighing heavy on my mind is Anna's sleep schedule. It sucks. There are a lot of issues and we created them ourselves...I guess we were too selfish and I didn't have enough information on the right way to do things and now we are paying the price. Anna has always stayed up pretty late with us and we have always let her take naps whenever and wherever she felt like it. Until about 3 weeks ago that is . . .
Right now weighing heavy on my mind is Anna's sleep schedule. It sucks. There are a lot of issues and we created them ourselves...I guess we were too selfish and I didn't have enough information on the right way to do things and now we are paying the price. Anna has always stayed up pretty late with us and we have always let her take naps whenever and wherever she felt like it. Until about 3 weeks ago that is . . .
We are really at our wits end right now, I'll try to give a quick history. Anna started sleeping 6+ hours at 6 weeks old, and that lasted until she outgrew her swaddle wrap (The Baby Swaddler which was awesome, and in hindsight possibly TOO awesome) and bassinet around 5 months. At that time she also was getting her first teeth and had resulting cold symptoms and just wasn't sleeping well at all - we decided to let her sleep in her car seat (on an incline) in her crib. That was OK for about a week, then her nose cleared up, teeth popped through and ever since then we have been struggling to get her to sleep in her crib.
The large size SwaddleMe blanket worked OK for a night or two, but she is really good at getting out of it and I don't think she has the startle reflex anymore so she shouldn't really need it. We used to hold her in our arms until she fell asleep and then wrap her up and put her to bed and all was fine. I know that she needs to learn to sleep on her own so we started trying cry it out method about a week and a half ago. She is still crying for 20 minutes when we put her to bed and waking up once or twice during the night and screaming for at least 20 minutes. About to give up on cry-it-out, obviously not working.
She has also not had a decent nap since we stopped letting her sleep in our arms 2 weeks ago, she only goes about 30 min twice a day. I have a feeling she isn't getting enough sleep but short of rocking her in our arms I don't know how to get her to shut her little eyes and stay sleeping for a significant amount of time.
We had tried the Ferber Method for a few days, but every time we would go back in to pat her it would get her all riled up again that we were leaving so we cut that off and tried this....but I am not sure how much more I can take, I can't stand to just listen to her cry so much. We were supposed to see an improvement after 3 or 4 nights but it has been 10 and I feel like it is still very hit or miss.
I don't know how much it is hindering her (or not) to be spending some days at home and some days at Grandma's house, but I don't think that can really be the problem since a lot of babies are in day care and they are fine. She will be in day care shortly also so she really needs to learn to fall asleep on her own or, "self soothe".
On the bright side her 2 top teeth are all the way through and just coming down more now so I think most of her pain is gone. And she is slowly getting back to eating more solid foods - she was on strike for awhile when her teeth started to come in so there must be some relation. She is still not eating enough, but anything is better than nothing.
Hopefully by the next post she will be sleeping better. Tonight she fell asleep after about 10 minutes of crying so I guess that is better than 20...I'll take tiny victories wherever I can get them these days :)
I say that we created the problem by being selfish because we allowed her to stay up until 10:30 or 11:00 every night so that we would be spending more time with her after work and then when it was time for her (and us) to go to bed we would just rock her in our arms until she fell asleep and then we would swaddle her up and place her in her bassinet and she was good until the next morning.
Had I been keeping up with the baby's first year books or the baby sleep books I was given I might have seen how important it is to establish a baby sleep schedule as early as 6 weeks. Now, don't get me wrong, I NEVER want(ed) to be come one of those bedtime nazi moms who won't do anything that will disrupt baby's "schedule" but an occasional break is one thing, no real routine ever is another and I think we really missed the boat on this one unfortunately. We are paying for it now. I would have much rather lost this sleep over my maternity leave but hind sight is 20/20 and Anna is happy and healthy so we really can't complain (but we still will of course!)
UPDATE: Last night went much better, only about 10 minutes to fall asleep and she only woke up once in the night, at 5:15 and she didn't cry much just rolled around and then fell back to sleep on her own at 5:30. Fingers crossed!!
Baby Gear: Food & Drink
Breast Pump - it was pretty clear almost immediately that there is a "big dog" in this category, with good reason. That dog is Medela. Medela pumps are quite pricey but they are the best you can buy. The hospitals use Medela pumps, doctors and lactation consultants use Medela pumps, all of my friends who pumped used Medela pumps. So it was basically just a decision of what model? I went with the middle-of-the-road InStyle Shoulder Bag. I was debating between this model and the next more expensive, Metro Bag but at the time the only real difference I saw was that the Metro bag came with a "work surface" pad and a mesh bag so I didn't think that was worth the additional $50. I have since found out that the Metro also allows you the ability to remove the pump from the bag and transport it with you, the Shoulder Bag and Backpack models contain the pump and it can't be removed. I am still not sure it would be worth the $50 difference as I generally need the bag to crate around all the accessories needed to pump. Another even more expensive option is the hands free model, but I heard that you also need to buy special bras to be able to use it and that just seemed silly.
There are less expensive models, but if you will be returning to work or pumping with any kind of frequency, they just aren't worth the money saved. One great tip: if you get your pump at Buy Buy Baby you can use the 20% off coupon (either theirs or an unexpired Bed, Bath & Beyond 20% off coupon) on pumps! That makes a big difference at these price tags!
Pump Accessories - although the pump does come with many necessary accessories, we always need more!! Just off the top of my head, the following are the Medela accessories I have purchased:
Side note on breast feeding - if it is something that you want to do, it is the best gift you can give your baby, DON'T GIVE UP! There were several times, especially in the beginning when I felt like there was no way I could go on. I went through a period of absolutely excruciating pain when she latched on and I honestly thought I would have to stop because the pain was really that bad. Luckily I took the time to meet with the Lactation Consultant on staff at Anna's pediatrician office and she made one minor adjustment and things rapidly improved. I highly recommend at least 1 or 2 tubes of Lansinoh Lanolin for the first few months and the Lansinoh bra pads as well. And you can do it! It is the way God intended babies to be fed and it will work out.
Feeding Pillow - I LOVE my Boppy! It was one of the first things I knew I would register for before I even got pregnant. I had heard from several friends how great they thought it was and it was a total no-brainer to me. We have 4 slip covers and for the first 3 months we really needed them, Anna was a big spitter upper and we always had a Boppy cover going through the wash. (and make sure you get some cute ones because we have tons of pictures of her with the Boppy as a background as evidenced below) Now one cover can last several weeks. The Boppy has also helped support Anna when she was learning to sit up on her own and she used to love to lay on it and nap (while we watched closely of course) so it really has been invaluable. When we travel and I don't take it I really have a hard time getting comfortable to feed her. I think the Boppy would be a sound investment even if you decide not to breastfeed, it is great for feeding no matter what and so many other things.
Also, I highly recommend taking your Boppy to the hospital with you when you go into delivery if you plan to breastfeed - it is a great help right from the start.
Bottles - We have been through several brands and settled on a clear winner. The first bottle Anna ever drank was just the one that came with the Medela pump. That bottle was fine, very simple.
but we didn't use the Medela bottles much because Anna had acid reflux and I thought the vented bottles would be better for her as they are supposed to help reduce spit-up. Other brands we tried: Avent (they leak) and Playtex Ventaire (we got one free). What we settled on was Dr. Brown's bottles. Though they are a pain to wash because they have 5 parts, they came with many recommendations from friends and they have a special venting system that helps eliminate gas. We started with the glass bottles but quickly started to favor the polypropylene (plastic) ones. At the beginning we only needed the small, 4 oz ones, and didn't use them very often. We waited until Anna was 4 weeks old to try a bottle because we didn't want her to realize it was easier to drink from the bottle and start refusing to breast feed. She did great though, no nipple confusion and she has been very flexible, she takes whatever bottle we give her and it doesn't really make a difference.
Eventually she started to take more milk or formula at a feeding and I bought some 8 oz bottles. At this point we probably had 4 glass 4 oz, 3 plastic 4 oz and 3 plastic 8 oz bottles and it was fine. This was before I went back to work. I was hand washing the bottles every time, Dr. Brown's come with a special brush for the small parts of their vent system and I went through several bottle brushes. The first one was the Babies R Us generic brand brush we had gotten as a gift - it worked fine but eventually broke. Next I bought the Dr. Brown's bottle brush and that one broke pretty quickly. Next I bought a Munchkin brand brush. This one has lasted a long time and works pretty well, my only complaint is that it doesn't reach the bottom of the 8 oz bottles very well, that doesn't matter as much anymore because now we are putting the bottle in the dishwasher but more on that shortly. . .
I also was sterilizing all bottle and pump parts after every wash because we have well water at our house and our lactation consultant recommended it. At first I was using the Medela steam sterilizer bags for everything and setting them out to dry, then when we got into bigger bottles I was boiling them for 5 minutes.
That got old really fast. I ended up buying the Dr. Browns sterilizing tray, it was only $25 (there are sterilizers out there for close to $100) and it is pretty easy, you just have to microwave it for 5 minutes. In general I have to load it up 2 or 3 times to get through everything, but it is working out great. This is what it looks like all loaded up:
I also got the Dr. Browns bottle drying rack for letting them air dry after sterilizing. Since going back to work we probably have 9 of the 8oz bottles and I need to wash them about every other day. At that rate hand washing was taking over an hour so I decided to try the dishwasher. I got the Dr Browns dishwasher basket which I really like because it is made to hold all the little Dr. Brown's parts, but I don't like that it only holds enough for 3 bottles. We probably should get another basket or 2 I guess. I also have a more generic dishwasher basket for all the bottle overflow and pump parts. Everything needs to go on the top rack but it is working out pretty well. I also saw a recommendation that you should not use a rinse agent like Jet Dry when washing baby bottles so we bought a different kind of soap to accommodate that. I still sterilize them after they come out of the dishwasher, just in case :) Since then I have just been upgrading nipple size as Anna get's older and can drink faster.
Formula - We resisted using any formula for a long time, I had this delusional thought that I would be able to provide enough milk to keep her exclusively on breast milk until she was 1. Well after going back to work it was pretty clear that wasn't going to happen. We started with just a few ounces a day and now we are up to more formula than milk on days I am not with her unfortunately, but it is all about supply and demand and it is hard to keep up demand when she is not feeding every 3 hours.
When we started using formula we used what we had gotten for free from the hospital both during our prep classes and after the birth. I believe it was all Similac. My personal preference is for the Similac Isomil Advance but that is just because it smells better to me than the Similac Advance EarlyShield. Anna likes them both equally as well as the Enfamil Premium Lipil. I also really like that Similac offers 8 oz nipple ready bottles, they are liquid formula that is ready to go, you can just attach a nipple from a standard bottle and go, they are great for the diaper bag in case you get in a situation where you either need to feed the baby quickly or you can't get to water to mix powder or you don't want to bring the big powder jug. Of course you pay a premium for that convenience, but they are nice to have a few on hand anyway.
Recently we have switched to the Costco Kirkland brand formula just because it is so significantly cheaper than the other brands and we trust the Kirkland brand more than the generic at any other store. However, I am not sure we will continue to buy Kirkland formula, it seems to create a foamy head (like on a beer) more often than not and I don't like that, it makes it hard to tell when she has run out of liquid and she is trying to suck the foam through the nipple, it is just strange. Whatever we decide I am sure we will still get it from Costco though, they sell all 3 brand names mentioned above in larger size containers.
Solid Food -
Bowls and Spoons - We use Munchkin Brand bowls and spoons, actually I use a lot of our normal bowls too but the spoon is important because she needs it to be the right size and to be soft enough not to hurt her, I really like the Munchkin spoons.
First Foods - I think it is almost a given that everyone starts with Gerber Rice Cereal. We followed that up with several cases of Earth's Best Organic Baby food first fruits and first vegetables. Anna really enjoyed them :)
Second Foods - we have moved on to Stage 2 foods from Gerber, Beech Nut and mostly more Earth's Best.
High Chair - We did a little research on high chairs and it worked out well that the one that appeared to have the best features was also made by the same manufacturer who makes our travel system and pack and play so we were able to get it in a coordinating pattern. Pros to the Chicco Polly Highchair, it folds up, adjustable height, back reclines, easy to clean, tray top goes in dishwasher, and the tray stores on the legs of the chair when not in use. Cons according to the reviews I have read are that the leg bar that goes in between baby's legs to stop from sliding out hooks onto the tray not the chair . . . well, what they didn't say is that there is also a strap built into the chair that goes between the legs and you don't have to install the bar at all. The complaint is that once this bar is hanging down off the tray you can't set it on a flat surface, but A) I rarely need to set the tray somewhere level other than on the chair and B) the tray has an easily removable top that can be set flat anywhere so that really has not been a con for us at all. We love the chair! By the time we started using it, around 5 months, Anna really didn't need th shoulder straps and they were easy to remove. We have only used the recline feature once so far, she was looking very tired at dinner so we just laid her back and she took a little snooze in her chair :)
Sippy Cup - This is the next milestone for Anna, I'll update after we give it a shot soon!
There are less expensive models, but if you will be returning to work or pumping with any kind of frequency, they just aren't worth the money saved. One great tip: if you get your pump at Buy Buy Baby you can use the 20% off coupon (either theirs or an unexpired Bed, Bath & Beyond 20% off coupon) on pumps! That makes a big difference at these price tags!
Pump Accessories - although the pump does come with many necessary accessories, we always need more!! Just off the top of my head, the following are the Medela accessories I have purchased:
- additional (and larger) breast cones (they call them Breast Shields) because when you use them everyday it is hard to keep up with the cleaning
- additional storage containers
- additional tubing
- additional membrane covers
- a vehicle lighter plug adapter (I pump in the car when I am at off site work meetings and the battery pack blows through batteries)
- even more storage containers
- additional cooler (not Medela brand)
- Micro Steam Bags (to steam sterilize)
- cleaning wipes (to sterilize when I have to pump in the car)
- Freezer storage bags
Side note on breast feeding - if it is something that you want to do, it is the best gift you can give your baby, DON'T GIVE UP! There were several times, especially in the beginning when I felt like there was no way I could go on. I went through a period of absolutely excruciating pain when she latched on and I honestly thought I would have to stop because the pain was really that bad. Luckily I took the time to meet with the Lactation Consultant on staff at Anna's pediatrician office and she made one minor adjustment and things rapidly improved. I highly recommend at least 1 or 2 tubes of Lansinoh Lanolin for the first few months and the Lansinoh bra pads as well. And you can do it! It is the way God intended babies to be fed and it will work out.
Feeding Pillow - I LOVE my Boppy! It was one of the first things I knew I would register for before I even got pregnant. I had heard from several friends how great they thought it was and it was a total no-brainer to me. We have 4 slip covers and for the first 3 months we really needed them, Anna was a big spitter upper and we always had a Boppy cover going through the wash. (and make sure you get some cute ones because we have tons of pictures of her with the Boppy as a background as evidenced below) Now one cover can last several weeks. The Boppy has also helped support Anna when she was learning to sit up on her own and she used to love to lay on it and nap (while we watched closely of course) so it really has been invaluable. When we travel and I don't take it I really have a hard time getting comfortable to feed her. I think the Boppy would be a sound investment even if you decide not to breastfeed, it is great for feeding no matter what and so many other things.
Bottles - We have been through several brands and settled on a clear winner. The first bottle Anna ever drank was just the one that came with the Medela pump. That bottle was fine, very simple.
Eventually she started to take more milk or formula at a feeding and I bought some 8 oz bottles. At this point we probably had 4 glass 4 oz, 3 plastic 4 oz and 3 plastic 8 oz bottles and it was fine. This was before I went back to work. I was hand washing the bottles every time, Dr. Brown's come with a special brush for the small parts of their vent system and I went through several bottle brushes. The first one was the Babies R Us generic brand brush we had gotten as a gift - it worked fine but eventually broke. Next I bought the Dr. Brown's bottle brush and that one broke pretty quickly. Next I bought a Munchkin brand brush. This one has lasted a long time and works pretty well, my only complaint is that it doesn't reach the bottom of the 8 oz bottles very well, that doesn't matter as much anymore because now we are putting the bottle in the dishwasher but more on that shortly. . .
I also was sterilizing all bottle and pump parts after every wash because we have well water at our house and our lactation consultant recommended it. At first I was using the Medela steam sterilizer bags for everything and setting them out to dry, then when we got into bigger bottles I was boiling them for 5 minutes.
That got old really fast. I ended up buying the Dr. Browns sterilizing tray, it was only $25 (there are sterilizers out there for close to $100) and it is pretty easy, you just have to microwave it for 5 minutes. In general I have to load it up 2 or 3 times to get through everything, but it is working out great. This is what it looks like all loaded up:
Formula - We resisted using any formula for a long time, I had this delusional thought that I would be able to provide enough milk to keep her exclusively on breast milk until she was 1. Well after going back to work it was pretty clear that wasn't going to happen. We started with just a few ounces a day and now we are up to more formula than milk on days I am not with her unfortunately, but it is all about supply and demand and it is hard to keep up demand when she is not feeding every 3 hours.
When we started using formula we used what we had gotten for free from the hospital both during our prep classes and after the birth. I believe it was all Similac. My personal preference is for the Similac Isomil Advance but that is just because it smells better to me than the Similac Advance EarlyShield. Anna likes them both equally as well as the Enfamil Premium Lipil. I also really like that Similac offers 8 oz nipple ready bottles, they are liquid formula that is ready to go, you can just attach a nipple from a standard bottle and go, they are great for the diaper bag in case you get in a situation where you either need to feed the baby quickly or you can't get to water to mix powder or you don't want to bring the big powder jug. Of course you pay a premium for that convenience, but they are nice to have a few on hand anyway.
Recently we have switched to the Costco Kirkland brand formula just because it is so significantly cheaper than the other brands and we trust the Kirkland brand more than the generic at any other store. However, I am not sure we will continue to buy Kirkland formula, it seems to create a foamy head (like on a beer) more often than not and I don't like that, it makes it hard to tell when she has run out of liquid and she is trying to suck the foam through the nipple, it is just strange. Whatever we decide I am sure we will still get it from Costco though, they sell all 3 brand names mentioned above in larger size containers.
Solid Food -
Bowls and Spoons - We use Munchkin Brand bowls and spoons, actually I use a lot of our normal bowls too but the spoon is important because she needs it to be the right size and to be soft enough not to hurt her, I really like the Munchkin spoons.
First Foods - I think it is almost a given that everyone starts with Gerber Rice Cereal. We followed that up with several cases of Earth's Best Organic Baby food first fruits and first vegetables. Anna really enjoyed them :)
Second Foods - we have moved on to Stage 2 foods from Gerber, Beech Nut and mostly more Earth's Best.
High Chair - We did a little research on high chairs and it worked out well that the one that appeared to have the best features was also made by the same manufacturer who makes our travel system and pack and play so we were able to get it in a coordinating pattern. Pros to the Chicco Polly Highchair, it folds up, adjustable height, back reclines, easy to clean, tray top goes in dishwasher, and the tray stores on the legs of the chair when not in use. Cons according to the reviews I have read are that the leg bar that goes in between baby's legs to stop from sliding out hooks onto the tray not the chair . . . well, what they didn't say is that there is also a strap built into the chair that goes between the legs and you don't have to install the bar at all. The complaint is that once this bar is hanging down off the tray you can't set it on a flat surface, but A) I rarely need to set the tray somewhere level other than on the chair and B) the tray has an easily removable top that can be set flat anywhere so that really has not been a con for us at all. We love the chair! By the time we started using it, around 5 months, Anna really didn't need th shoulder straps and they were easy to remove. We have only used the recline feature once so far, she was looking very tired at dinner so we just laid her back and she took a little snooze in her chair :)
Feeding Seat - I got the Bumbo for several reasons, 1 - everyone was talking about it and how much they loved it, 2 - I knew it would be a good tool to help her learn to sit up by herself. However, sitting in the Bumbo must have put a strain on her little belly because she spit up all over it everytime. And now that she can sit by herself I hardly touch the thing - it is easier to throw her in the high chair then to drag the Bumbo out so for now I feel like it was kind of a waste. Of course, she did look awful cute in it . . .
Sippy Cup - This is the next milestone for Anna, I'll update after we give it a shot soon!
Baby Gear: Travel
...continuing my reviews of baby products. One thing I would like to mention, a book that was tremendously helpful and recommended from several friends is Baby Bargains buy Denise Fields. We just checked it out from the library but it has extensive reviews on all things baby and for the most part we trusted the recommendations (the major exception being their high rating of IKEA furniture, but that is another story)
Stroller (full size) - I did a lot of stroller research, the biggest issues with full size strollers are weight, ease of fo
ld, and for a lot of people basket size and cup holders. There are a lot of opinions out there about the pros and cons of travel systems and we decided we liked the idea. (a travel system is a stroller and car seat that work together). Overall Chicco had some of the best ratings, it was towards the upper side of the price level, but there are strollers over $1000 (yes really) so no where near the upper limit! The stroller is easy to fold and it stands on its own when folded which is important in Michigan, you don't want to have to fold your stroller down onto the dirty slushy parking lot in February. Honestly the biggest thing that swung our vote to Chicco from Graco or similar lower priced brands was the color selection - we really wanted something n
eutral because we were not going to find out the sex of the baby and we really wanted to be able to use it for future babies no matter if they are boys or girls. We ended up with the Chicco Cortina stroller and in the Discovery pattern. We really love it so far, no problems other than it is a large stroller and it does take up a lot of space in the car, but so far it has been fine. We will be travelling with it on a plane in about a month and I'll update then with any further feedback.
Stroller (lightweight) - We initially registered for the Combi Cosmo because we had 2 people at Babies R Us recommend it to us, however after we got it at the shower I freaked out a little because I really hadn't done any research into it and I knew that we could wait a little bit to get one so we returned it and used that money to get the full size stroller.
Fast forward to January 2010 and while planning our second air travel trip I decided it was time to settle the lightweight stroller issue and I dove back into research. We ended up looking at the Combi again but it just didn't feel right to me, the handles fold inward and that made it seem very unstable. We looked at Maclarens (kind of the Cadillac of strollers) and liked them but not sure we were ready for the $250 price tag. In the end the fine folks at Buy Buy Baby helped us choose the Inglesina Swift. We have not used it enough to provide good feedback yet so I will update, but the highlights for us are the large basket, the 4 position recline, and the quality construction for the price. I don't think we will end up taking this stroller on the plane with us afterall because we need to bring a car seat as well but I will update this review after we have put some miles on the Inglesina.
Car Seat (Infant Seat) - The Chicco KeyFit infant seat is part of the travel system that we decided on with the stroller above. Actually it was the car seat that got the best reviews and put Chicco high on our list. It is consistently one of the best safety rated seats on the market. We also love that the seat snaps in and out of bases that stay in the car and in and out of the stroller making it more of a buggy for when baby is little. We have the standard KeyFit (that goes up to 22 lbs), there is a KeyFit30 that will go up to 30 lbs. and I really considered changing to that one but a) it was not available in the Discovery trim and b) by the time a baby is 30 lbs it will most likely be way too long for this type of infant seat. We plan on this seat lasting Anna until she is about 1 year old and honestly I am not sure we could handle lugging her around in it for much longer than that. Our major "con" of this seat is that it is quite heavy, then you add in the baby and it is a lot to heft in and out of cars. It has been OK for Jeremy but now that Anna is around 18 lbs herself carrying her in the seat is really difficult. I am to the point now that I need to either put the seat into the stroller to push or take her out of the seat and just hold her on her own.
We do have 2 bases, 1 comes with the system and we got a second for a shower gift. That is really the way to go for us because we both have Anna in our car equally. Not sure what we are going to do when we move to the bigger seat, we might just have to buy another one because transferring from car to car might be too hard. The bases use the Latch System which makes it really easy to install in the car and to move it to another car if need be.
Car Seat (Convertible) - Looking to the future we also registered for a fullsize car seat that we can use when Anna outgrows the Infant Seat (hopefully at about 1 year). In doing research it was clear that Britax is one of the safety leaders in this category and the price tag reflects that, but if there was ever something to splurge on it is the safety of our child. We ended up with a middle of the road convertible seat. Convertible meaning it can be used both rear facing and forward facing. Children can technically be placed in forward facing seats around 20 lbs or 1 year old, however the AAP recently came out with a recommendation that babies stay rear facing until they are 2 years old. The Britax Marathon will stay rear facing to 33 lbs and after that will last forward facing until 65 lbs which should be well beyond the point when she will move to a booster seat anyway so it might be a little bit of overkill actually.
We have only used this a few times so far in Grandma & Grandpa's car, but it is extremely well made with high quality materials and Anna is very comfortable in it. I have already noticed several small details that will make things easier when we go to this seat full time in about 5 months!
Pack & Play - Didn't do as much here, just read some reviews to avoid the quality concerns (and there a
re quite a few with cheaper models) and ended up just picking the Chicco Lullaby Playard because it got good reviews and it was made to match the travel system. So far we really like it, it did take some getting used to how to put it up and take it down and we still will occasionally have issues, but mostly our fault. We have never once used the changing table attachment and I think that is a waste if given a choice. We really like the way it folds up into a bag for travel and is pretty easy to transport. So far we have used it in Florida (taken down via car) at the Grandparents houses and in a hotel room all with great success. One concern is that you can not attach the mobile if you have a sheet on the mattress - Anna hasn't spent enough time in it to ever care about the mobile so it has not mattered to us. We are now going to be able to stop using the bassinet attachment (which took the bulk of the time in installing) so it should be even easier.
Stroller (full size) - I did a lot of stroller research, the biggest issues with full size strollers are weight, ease of fo
ld, and for a lot of people basket size and cup holders. There are a lot of opinions out there about the pros and cons of travel systems and we decided we liked the idea. (a travel system is a stroller and car seat that work together). Overall Chicco had some of the best ratings, it was towards the upper side of the price level, but there are strollers over $1000 (yes really) so no where near the upper limit! The stroller is easy to fold and it stands on its own when folded which is important in Michigan, you don't want to have to fold your stroller down onto the dirty slushy parking lot in February. Honestly the biggest thing that swung our vote to Chicco from Graco or similar lower priced brands was the color selection - we really wanted something n
eutral because we were not going to find out the sex of the baby and we really wanted to be able to use it for future babies no matter if they are boys or girls. We ended up with the Chicco Cortina stroller and in the Discovery pattern. We really love it so far, no problems other than it is a large stroller and it does take up a lot of space in the car, but so far it has been fine. We will be travelling with it on a plane in about a month and I'll update then with any further feedback.Stroller (lightweight) - We initially registered for the Combi Cosmo because we had 2 people at Babies R Us recommend it to us, however after we got it at the shower I freaked out a little because I really hadn't done any research into it and I knew that we could wait a little bit to get one so we returned it and used that money to get the full size stroller.
Fast forward to January 2010 and while planning our second air travel trip I decided it was time to settle the lightweight stroller issue and I dove back into research. We ended up looking at the Combi again but it just didn't feel right to me, the handles fold inward and that made it seem very unstable. We looked at Maclarens (kind of the Cadillac of strollers) and liked them but not sure we were ready for the $250 price tag. In the end the fine folks at Buy Buy Baby helped us choose the Inglesina Swift. We have not used it enough to provide good feedback yet so I will update, but the highlights for us are the large basket, the 4 position recline, and the quality construction for the price. I don't think we will end up taking this stroller on the plane with us afterall because we need to bring a car seat as well but I will update this review after we have put some miles on the Inglesina.
Car Seat (Infant Seat) - The Chicco KeyFit infant seat is part of the travel system that we decided on with the stroller above. Actually it was the car seat that got the best reviews and put Chicco high on our list. It is consistently one of the best safety rated seats on the market. We also love that the seat snaps in and out of bases that stay in the car and in and out of the stroller making it more of a buggy for when baby is little. We have the standard KeyFit (that goes up to 22 lbs), there is a KeyFit30 that will go up to 30 lbs. and I really considered changing to that one but a) it was not available in the Discovery trim and b) by the time a baby is 30 lbs it will most likely be way too long for this type of infant seat. We plan on this seat lasting Anna until she is about 1 year old and honestly I am not sure we could handle lugging her around in it for much longer than that. Our major "con" of this seat is that it is quite heavy, then you add in the baby and it is a lot to heft in and out of cars. It has been OK for Jeremy but now that Anna is around 18 lbs herself carrying her in the seat is really difficult. I am to the point now that I need to either put the seat into the stroller to push or take her out of the seat and just hold her on her own.
We do have 2 bases, 1 comes with the system and we got a second for a shower gift. That is really the way to go for us because we both have Anna in our car equally. Not sure what we are going to do when we move to the bigger seat, we might just have to buy another one because transferring from car to car might be too hard. The bases use the Latch System which makes it really easy to install in the car and to move it to another car if need be.
Car Seat (Convertible) - Looking to the future we also registered for a fullsize car seat that we can use when Anna outgrows the Infant Seat (hopefully at about 1 year). In doing research it was clear that Britax is one of the safety leaders in this category and the price tag reflects that, but if there was ever something to splurge on it is the safety of our child. We ended up with a middle of the road convertible seat. Convertible meaning it can be used both rear facing and forward facing. Children can technically be placed in forward facing seats around 20 lbs or 1 year old, however the AAP recently came out with a recommendation that babies stay rear facing until they are 2 years old. The Britax Marathon will stay rear facing to 33 lbs and after that will last forward facing until 65 lbs which should be well beyond the point when she will move to a booster seat anyway so it might be a little bit of overkill actually.
We have only used this a few times so far in Grandma & Grandpa's car, but it is extremely well made with high quality materials and Anna is very comfortable in it. I have already noticed several small details that will make things easier when we go to this seat full time in about 5 months!
Pack & Play - Didn't do as much here, just read some reviews to avoid the quality concerns (and there a
re quite a few with cheaper models) and ended up just picking the Chicco Lullaby Playard because it got good reviews and it was made to match the travel system. So far we really like it, it did take some getting used to how to put it up and take it down and we still will occasionally have issues, but mostly our fault. We have never once used the changing table attachment and I think that is a waste if given a choice. We really like the way it folds up into a bag for travel and is pretty easy to transport. So far we have used it in Florida (taken down via car) at the Grandparents houses and in a hotel room all with great success. One concern is that you can not attach the mobile if you have a sheet on the mattress - Anna hasn't spent enough time in it to ever care about the mobile so it has not mattered to us. We are now going to be able to stop using the bassinet attachment (which took the bulk of the time in installing) so it should be even easier.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Baby gear: Furniture
When I started the baby registry process it was very overwhelming . . . registering for your wedding is fun! Everyone knows what a toaster does and that you probably need one - you just get to pick the prettiest to ask for. But how would I ever know what features to look for on a car seat or stroller? And what could be more important than the safety of a tiny new baby?? It took a LOT of research on my part and one of the key methods was to ask my friends who had recently had babies for their advice. So, thanks to Manda, Johanna, Kelli and Emily and I will include some of that feedback here, but mostly this is how we see it.
Furniture:
Crib - We had quite the debacle finding a crib, I could go on for a while with the whole story, and maybe someday I will. But for now, what we ended up with was a crib from Buy Buy Baby, brand: AP Industries style: Lollipop. So far we love this crib, it is a great size for our nursery which is on the small side, it is solid construction, it came in light wood that we wanted. We just lowered it down because Anna can now pull herself up and so far so good. She can't reach the top now so we have not had to worry about her chewing on it yet. This crib does turn into a toddler bed by just taking off the sides but I am not sure we would ever use it for that. Luckily we talked ourselves out of a drop side crib after reading several negative reports including Consumer Reports. There have recently been some major recalls concerning drop sides and we are able to reach Anna just fine with the stationary sides.
Changing Table - This also is involved with the long drama we had with furniture shopping. We ended up just getting a standard waist high dresser that actually is from the same collection as our spare room bed and night stand (so they can eventually be put back together as a set) and placed a changing pad on top. It actually works perfectly, it is a great height for both of us and we just keep the diapers, wipes, creams, etc in the top drawer that is right under the changing pad and the other drawers are Anna's dresser and hold her clothes, sheets, blankets, towels. I am really happy with this decision in the long run. So it isn't really baby related, but we got the dresser from Art Van.
Rocking Chair/Glider - We decided not to get a glider this time - our house is pretty small and it is a very short walk out to the living room to the recliner. Also there was really no space in the nursery for it. This plan has worked out pretty well, the only issue comes up when we have visitors and I want to feed Anna, sometimes I just have to go in our bedroom but that is pretty rare. I think if we had a multi-level or much larger house I would want a chair right in her room to rock and feed her but for now we are OK without.
Furniture:
Crib - We had quite the debacle finding a crib, I could go on for a while with the whole story, and maybe someday I will. But for now, what we ended up with was a crib from Buy Buy Baby, brand: AP Industries style: Lollipop. So far we love this crib, it is a great size for our nursery which is on the small side, it is solid construction, it came in light wood that we wanted. We just lowered it down because Anna can now pull herself up and so far so good. She can't reach the top now so we have not had to worry about her chewing on it yet. This crib does turn into a toddler bed by just taking off the sides but I am not sure we would ever use it for that. Luckily we talked ourselves out of a drop side crib after reading several negative reports including Consumer Reports. There have recently been some major recalls concerning drop sides and we are able to reach Anna just fine with the stationary sides.
Changing Table - This also is involved with the long drama we had with furniture shopping. We ended up just getting a standard waist high dresser that actually is from the same collection as our spare room bed and night stand (so they can eventually be put back together as a set) and placed a changing pad on top. It actually works perfectly, it is a great height for both of us and we just keep the diapers, wipes, creams, etc in the top drawer that is right under the changing pad and the other drawers are Anna's dresser and hold her clothes, sheets, blankets, towels. I am really happy with this decision in the long run. So it isn't really baby related, but we got the dresser from Art Van.
Rocking Chair/Glider - We decided not to get a glider this time - our house is pretty small and it is a very short walk out to the living room to the recliner. Also there was really no space in the nursery for it. This plan has worked out pretty well, the only issue comes up when we have visitors and I want to feed Anna, sometimes I just have to go in our bedroom but that is pretty rare. I think if we had a multi-level or much larger house I would want a chair right in her room to rock and feed her but for now we are OK without.
7 months later . . .
So I haven't kept up the website like I thought I would, but I really do want to be able to keep a documentation of life with baby Anna so hopefully I will be able to dedicate some time to maintaining a blog. This should be pretty easy. I am going to start a post with our product feedback as well, it was invaluable to me while registering and now that we have actually put it to use we have some thoughts.
The baby furniture drama
Just in case my allusions to it have made you curious (and on the off chance you haven't already heard the story) here it is:
When we started researching a crib and changing table we went to the baby stores and looked at everything, but at Babies R Us I felt like everything was kind of cheaply made, and at Buy Buy Baby and the specialty stores I just couldn't believe the price tags! I guess this element was also highlighted by the fact Jeremy was laid-off at this time and we were trying very hard to conserve spending.
Another major factor was my "vision" of the nursery. I had always wanted a natural/light wood color on furniture, I just simply prefer that look and felt it would go nicely with the bedding that we had already selected. Come to find out I am in the minority there and heavy dark wood is en vogue right now. So much so that even finding a crib available in natural wood was proving difficult.
And our third major concern was space - the room we were going to use for the nursery was about 10 x 10, not tiny but not a lot of space so we wanted to make sure we maximized every square foot.
Eventually I came to consider IKEA. At first I wrote it off thinking furniture I put together myself was not safe enough for my child. However, IKEA did get stellar reviews in the Baby Bargains books and also got good marks from Consumer Reports. And really, it isn't like we were going to buy any crib that didn't require some assembly ... so I decided to at least go take a look. IKEA has a decent selection of baby and child furniture, there were probably 4 or 5 cribs to choose from and they all seemed to have coordinating pieces. We found a medium brown wood crib that went with a changing table/small dresser combo and an armoire (there is technically no closet in the nursery, just access to my closet) and even a bookcase and toy box that would match as well if we ever decided we had the space for it (the Leksvik collection).
After much debate we decided why not? Why not get 3 pieces of furniture for the price of 1 crib at other stores and get it in a size that makes more sense and a color that is preferable to boot? Jeremy's parents had generously offered to purchase the crib as a gift so we figured this would be the most bang for their buck and I resigned myself to thinking IKEA was an advantage rather than a punchline.
So, the Maurer's came down for the day and we all took the 20 minute drive down to Canton and reviewed the pieces in store one more time, we also went over to Buy Buy Baby to see the more expensive models and we decided IKEA it was. We purchased the 3 pieces, loaded them up into the van and headed home.
(I won't even get into it, but it should be noted that at this time we also stopped for lunch and had one of the worst service experiences ever, so that set the mood for the rest of the day)
We decided we might as well get a start on putting the pieces together while Jim was there to help and we started with the crib. Things were going fine, there was quite a bit of work to do, we had to install all the slats along the bottom and of course when hammering in the pin on the very last one the wood split. But it was only one slat and the wood could be glued back together, no big deal.
Then we noticed that there was some detail to the head & foot boards. There was a raised design on one side of the panel only for both ends, however where the holes were placed made them line up so that the raised edge would face the same direction (so into the crib from the headboard and out of the crib from the foot board if that makes sense) This didn't seem right to use, we thought it should be more reflective and symmetrical, so the detail faced out from both ends (or in). We thought that maybe we got 2 of the same piece or the holes were drilled wrong so I searched online for pictures of this crib but was unable to find anything that clearly showed the detail. I called IKEA and asked the person in the children's department but was told I would have to wait and speak with a special person on Monday . . . so we decided just to go back and see how it was put together on the store model. So, we all loaded up for another 20 minute drive down to Canton and the big trek through the whole store (IKEA is impossible to navigate on a Saturday no matter how many shortcuts you find) to find the crib had been set up the same way we had done it at home. We started thinking maybe the store staff put it together wrong too and we had a debate about what was the right way and in the end we decided it really didn't matter.
Next we started to open the box for the armoire. There were a lot of big, flat pieces (the sides I presume) and when one was just lightly leaned on to move the box it split right up the middle. At this point Jeremy and his dad were frustrated from the lunch issue, then the crib wood splitting and now this was all it took to set them off. They decided that the furniture was crap and the wood was too cheap and the baby needed something better. So we returned to IKEA a third time that day to return the armoire. We were still going to think about the crib and the dresser/changer was still in the box, fate to be determined with the crib.
Everyone was all riled up and we decided to call it a day at that point. I was pretty disappointed but in the long run it is good these things happened up front. After a break from thinking about it I did some additional and extensive research and it turned out there were as many people complaining about IKEA cribs as there were praising them online. I had seen some negative comments initially but you will get that with anything . . . however these negative comments were more about concern for the safety aspect, it seems that when a mattress is placed in this particular crib there is sometimes a significant gap left where a baby hand/arm/leg/head could get caught, yet others say that is not the case and things fit fine. So I decided to make my decision after the mattress the Maurer's had ordered for us arrived the following week.
The mattress was delivered, we put it in the crib and lo and behold there was a 2 inch gap between it and the side of the crib. That was the end of that.
We took the crib apart and the Maurer's came back down so we could return it and we went to Buy Buy Baby. We debated a big heavy dark wood crib that was on sale but in the end I went with my gut and we got one of the few light wood cribs they offered (see the furniture review above). It was also on the low end price wise but now we would need to find a dresser/changer to go with it.
The company that makes the crib didn't have a specific matching dresser, but I figured their wood would all be the same so I could just find a dresser from another collection and order it in the same color wood. Well, all their other collections were significantly more expensive. We were honestly looking at paying $700 just to get a low end model. With Jeremy still out of work that wasn't going to fly. We looked at a local "naked furniture" shop and were going to have to go that route until we stopped in Art Van. When Jeremy first bought the house we had purchased a bed frame and nightstand from the Art Van Clearance Center for the spare room in a light/natural wood color. As it turned out they still had that same collection in the Clearance Center and the dresser that went with the set was a waist high model that could accommodate a changing pad. I did the measurements and everything seemed like it would work out. The wood wouldn't match exactly but the dresser could eventually be put back with it's brothers in the spare room someday when we have a bigger house so that started to make a lot of sense to us.
That is what we ended up doing and actually it has worked out better than I could have ever imagined. The dresser is on the large size but we use every square inch of it, we have the changing pad on half of it and the top drawer under that is where we keep diapers and lotions, etc. There is plenty of space to keep the wipes right on top and the 5 other drawers are all filled to capacity with her clothes, sheets, towels, blankets, etc.
It was a looooong process but, as it usually goes, in the end everything worked out for the best. And now we have quite a story for Anna on how we put so much time and effort into finding her the perfect furniture :)
Oh, and for the armoire, we decided to just wait and see if we even need something like that and guess what? we don't! I just made some space for Anna's clothes that need to hang in my closet and she doesn't have that many so we can share just fine.
When we started researching a crib and changing table we went to the baby stores and looked at everything, but at Babies R Us I felt like everything was kind of cheaply made, and at Buy Buy Baby and the specialty stores I just couldn't believe the price tags! I guess this element was also highlighted by the fact Jeremy was laid-off at this time and we were trying very hard to conserve spending.
Another major factor was my "vision" of the nursery. I had always wanted a natural/light wood color on furniture, I just simply prefer that look and felt it would go nicely with the bedding that we had already selected. Come to find out I am in the minority there and heavy dark wood is en vogue right now. So much so that even finding a crib available in natural wood was proving difficult.
And our third major concern was space - the room we were going to use for the nursery was about 10 x 10, not tiny but not a lot of space so we wanted to make sure we maximized every square foot.
Eventually I came to consider IKEA. At first I wrote it off thinking furniture I put together myself was not safe enough for my child. However, IKEA did get stellar reviews in the Baby Bargains books and also got good marks from Consumer Reports. And really, it isn't like we were going to buy any crib that didn't require some assembly ... so I decided to at least go take a look. IKEA has a decent selection of baby and child furniture, there were probably 4 or 5 cribs to choose from and they all seemed to have coordinating pieces. We found a medium brown wood crib that went with a changing table/small dresser combo and an armoire (there is technically no closet in the nursery, just access to my closet) and even a bookcase and toy box that would match as well if we ever decided we had the space for it (the Leksvik collection).
After much debate we decided why not? Why not get 3 pieces of furniture for the price of 1 crib at other stores and get it in a size that makes more sense and a color that is preferable to boot? Jeremy's parents had generously offered to purchase the crib as a gift so we figured this would be the most bang for their buck and I resigned myself to thinking IKEA was an advantage rather than a punchline.
So, the Maurer's came down for the day and we all took the 20 minute drive down to Canton and reviewed the pieces in store one more time, we also went over to Buy Buy Baby to see the more expensive models and we decided IKEA it was. We purchased the 3 pieces, loaded them up into the van and headed home.
(I won't even get into it, but it should be noted that at this time we also stopped for lunch and had one of the worst service experiences ever, so that set the mood for the rest of the day)
We decided we might as well get a start on putting the pieces together while Jim was there to help and we started with the crib. Things were going fine, there was quite a bit of work to do, we had to install all the slats along the bottom and of course when hammering in the pin on the very last one the wood split. But it was only one slat and the wood could be glued back together, no big deal.
Then we noticed that there was some detail to the head & foot boards. There was a raised design on one side of the panel only for both ends, however where the holes were placed made them line up so that the raised edge would face the same direction (so into the crib from the headboard and out of the crib from the foot board if that makes sense) This didn't seem right to use, we thought it should be more reflective and symmetrical, so the detail faced out from both ends (or in). We thought that maybe we got 2 of the same piece or the holes were drilled wrong so I searched online for pictures of this crib but was unable to find anything that clearly showed the detail. I called IKEA and asked the person in the children's department but was told I would have to wait and speak with a special person on Monday . . . so we decided just to go back and see how it was put together on the store model. So, we all loaded up for another 20 minute drive down to Canton and the big trek through the whole store (IKEA is impossible to navigate on a Saturday no matter how many shortcuts you find) to find the crib had been set up the same way we had done it at home. We started thinking maybe the store staff put it together wrong too and we had a debate about what was the right way and in the end we decided it really didn't matter.
Next we started to open the box for the armoire. There were a lot of big, flat pieces (the sides I presume) and when one was just lightly leaned on to move the box it split right up the middle. At this point Jeremy and his dad were frustrated from the lunch issue, then the crib wood splitting and now this was all it took to set them off. They decided that the furniture was crap and the wood was too cheap and the baby needed something better. So we returned to IKEA a third time that day to return the armoire. We were still going to think about the crib and the dresser/changer was still in the box, fate to be determined with the crib.
Everyone was all riled up and we decided to call it a day at that point. I was pretty disappointed but in the long run it is good these things happened up front. After a break from thinking about it I did some additional and extensive research and it turned out there were as many people complaining about IKEA cribs as there were praising them online. I had seen some negative comments initially but you will get that with anything . . . however these negative comments were more about concern for the safety aspect, it seems that when a mattress is placed in this particular crib there is sometimes a significant gap left where a baby hand/arm/leg/head could get caught, yet others say that is not the case and things fit fine. So I decided to make my decision after the mattress the Maurer's had ordered for us arrived the following week.
The mattress was delivered, we put it in the crib and lo and behold there was a 2 inch gap between it and the side of the crib. That was the end of that.
We took the crib apart and the Maurer's came back down so we could return it and we went to Buy Buy Baby. We debated a big heavy dark wood crib that was on sale but in the end I went with my gut and we got one of the few light wood cribs they offered (see the furniture review above). It was also on the low end price wise but now we would need to find a dresser/changer to go with it.
The company that makes the crib didn't have a specific matching dresser, but I figured their wood would all be the same so I could just find a dresser from another collection and order it in the same color wood. Well, all their other collections were significantly more expensive. We were honestly looking at paying $700 just to get a low end model. With Jeremy still out of work that wasn't going to fly. We looked at a local "naked furniture" shop and were going to have to go that route until we stopped in Art Van. When Jeremy first bought the house we had purchased a bed frame and nightstand from the Art Van Clearance Center for the spare room in a light/natural wood color. As it turned out they still had that same collection in the Clearance Center and the dresser that went with the set was a waist high model that could accommodate a changing pad. I did the measurements and everything seemed like it would work out. The wood wouldn't match exactly but the dresser could eventually be put back with it's brothers in the spare room someday when we have a bigger house so that started to make a lot of sense to us.
That is what we ended up doing and actually it has worked out better than I could have ever imagined. The dresser is on the large size but we use every square inch of it, we have the changing pad on half of it and the top drawer under that is where we keep diapers and lotions, etc. There is plenty of space to keep the wipes right on top and the 5 other drawers are all filled to capacity with her clothes, sheets, towels, blankets, etc.
It was a looooong process but, as it usually goes, in the end everything worked out for the best. And now we have quite a story for Anna on how we put so much time and effort into finding her the perfect furniture :)
Oh, and for the armoire, we decided to just wait and see if we even need something like that and guess what? we don't! I just made some space for Anna's clothes that need to hang in my closet and she doesn't have that many so we can share just fine.
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